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Local Flavor

Don’t try to view this collection of regional delicacies on an empty stomach.

Food isn’t just about what tastes good in the moment — you can almost trace a region’s history through its cuisine. Banh mi sandwiches combine a roll of French bread with pickled carrots, spicy jalapenos, and other flavors of Vietnam; and speak to the French colonization of that country. Over the centuries, six flags have flown over the state of Texas, and they show in everything from the barbecue to the Tex-Mex. Without any knowledge of world geography, you could adequately guess which countries neighbor each other by analyzing the shared flavors in their traditional meals.

Some worry that all this culinary history is disappearing with the spread of chain restaurants and fast food. But that’s why I loved the submissions to this theme. So many contributors mentioned not just their local delicacy, but what they do while eating it. Northeastern crab boils, Argentinian asados, and Chinese dim sum feasts all combine beloved food with beloved ritual. Food goes too deep into every culture to be brushed aside in a generation of globalization. I can’t say it any better than Carrie Hirdes: “Food itself becomes a verb. It heals the hurt, celebrates the joy, and comforts those who need it. It says, ‘I’m so sorry for your loss’ and ‘Congratulations’ and ‘Let’s sit and catch up a bit’ and ‘He sure was a sorry-son-of-a-bitch!’”

Here in the US, most restaurants use salmon roe sparsely, usually serving a small amount of these fish eggs on a piece of nigiri sushi. But in Japan and in Japanese communities in America (I grew up in Los Angeles, and frequented Little Tokyo, Gardena, and Torrance), you can buy whole bowls of salmon roe (“ikura”) over sushi rice. Daikon radish sprouts (“kaiware”) and shredded seaweed (“nori”) are sprinkled on top. If you haven’t tried roe, it’s as decadent as caviar: briny and silky, complementing the delicate sweetness of the rice underneath. This bowl, waiting for me in the kitchen, is about to be devoured as a late night meal with some cold beer.

Somehow fish tastes better when you know where it comes from, and best when you have caught it yourself. I spent a lovely morning on the sea outside of Smögen (on the west coast of Sweden) fishing for herring, or oily fish. After three hours my friends and I had scored around 70 herrings on our hooks. The trick to preparing them was to cut out their intestines and get them in a panful of butter as quickly as possible. Golden brown with a crunch, this herring was loaded with dill and served next to boiled potatoes, lingonberry jam, and cold beer. Bon appetit.

Photographer: Christian Ahlqvist

Recipe for Maryland small town summertime bliss: First, start with an outdoor picnic table (preferably facing the water) and a pile of newspapers (preferably local ones so you can read who had their laundry stolen off the clothes line). Second, steam crabs with your secret blend of rock salt, Old Bay seasoning, secret spice, and lots of cheap beer. Third, lay the crabs out on the newspaper and use mallets or butter knives for cracking, while your whole family from young to old gathers around. Fourth, keep picking crabs, passing out cans of cheap local beer, and shooting the bull all afternoon. Lastly, do not be concerned when your hands look like this afterwards.

During the months ending in ‘r’, everyone in Charleston gathers outside while oysters covered in wet burlap cook on a fire. After they have cooked, they are shoveled off the fire onto a big communal table while everyone crowds around and starts shucking. Think of some of the best Southern stereotypes — tradition, hospitality, a lazy afternoon — and you will begin to understand the Charleston oyster roast.

Southeast Texas benefits from a trifecta of culinary influences: Southern, Mexican, and Cajun. Not only can you find the best of each of these cuisines represented independently, but some really brave and creative chefs and home cooks can mix all three in one dish. (For example: crab stuffed tilapia seasoned with a hint of chili powder, smothered with a creamy shrimp sauce, and served over a bed of crawfish risotto and seasonal vegetables.) But food here is more than spices and flavors; food itself becomes a verb. It heals the hurt, celebrates the joy, and comforts those who need it. It says, “I’m so sorry for your loss” and “Congratulations” and “Let’s sit and catch up a bit” and “He sure was a sorry-son-of-a-bitch!” It’s the best way a Texan knows how to communicate.

For the best grilled calamari on the planet you can either go to a small place called Volcane on the Greek island of Santorini, or visit Taverna Kyclades in my hometown of Astoria. Nothing fancy here, just amazingly fresh and well-prepared seafood. Opa!

When I’m not at my 9 to 5 doing IT work for the government I enjoy New York City based “street photography” — no fancy manipulations (except for an occasional HDR), just plain old straight forward images of anything that grabs my attention both above and below ground.

Yakitori, or skewered chicken, is an example of how simple and great street food can be. This tiny shop with no tables and no chairs was located in the Tsukishima neighborhood of Tokyo. I ordered from the sidewalk and soon after continued on my way with some of the tastiest fast food there is.

Thai locals flock to the Amphawa riverside to feast on fresh seafood, savory curries, and mouth-burning papaya salads that are prepared on and served from longtail boats. Amphawa, still relatively undiscovered by foreign tourists, is a historic floating market located on the banks of the Mae Klong River, and is about 45 minutes outside of my hometown of Bangkok, Thailand.

Tara Kocourek is a freelance photographer in Washington, DC. A traveler from a very young age, Tara grew up in Japan, Australia, and Thailand; and has traveled to Burma, China, Costa Rica, England, Fiji, Honduras, Indonesia, India, New Zealand, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

In the eclectic immigrant neighborhoods around Pittsburgh, PA, one food has emerged as the soul of the Steel City: Primanti’s sandwiches (although the locals pronounce this word as “sammiches”). Primanti Bros. made a meal out of the sandwich by adding a slather of coleslaw and a handful of fresh cut french fries directly in to the sandwich. Growing up, I took Primanti’s for granted. I’ve since moved away, and now long for the day when I can eat my corned beef, no tomato, add egg, extra cheese sammich.

Carrot cake doesn’t mean the same thing in Singapore that it does in the West. For us, the dish involves pieces of carrot and flour steamed into cakes then chopped and fried with eggs, preserved vegetables, Chinese parsley, and dark soy sauce (if you want the dish black; it also comes in white without soy sauce). Beside this meal is a plate of Hokkien Prawn Noodles, also a Singaporean favorite.

Photographer: Pearly Tan

Journalist by profession, pianist by childhood, photographer by passion.

Coimbatore, a hilly city in Tamil Nadu, India, is known for its delicious street food. A large number of street stalls sell tasty dishes like dosa, bonda, and omelettes. I loved this spicy dish called “Chilli Mushroom Fry”.

On any given night that I wander the bustling streets of Taipei, my stomach always leads me to the push cart street vendors. Eight course meals begin at a fried tofu stand and zigzag toward the end of the street, most likely to a sit-down restaurant serving delicious tapioca desserts. I always find exactly what I’m craving, whether it’s on a stick, fried in sesame oil, or made of surf and/or turf.

Mexico is home to many wonderful dishes, some of which are world famous, some of which are not. Pozole is one of the most Mexican of Mexican dishes: a watery broth filled with either pork, chicken, or shrimp, and then loaded up with vegetables and a few spices to give it kick. You can add your own radish, chopped onion, and oregano to taste, munch on a side plate of chicharron (pork skin), and wash it down with a cool cerveza. Corona is the most famous, internationally, but if you want to indulge in something that only Mexicans can sample, order yourself a Victoria — it’s produced for the national market only.

If you are from Texas, one of your favorite types of foods is probably Tex-Mex: Mexican food with a Texas spin on it. Which means more salt, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, salsa — more flavor in general — than the original. Friends of mine who have moved out of state crave this food while they are away and make it one of their first priorities to eat it when they come back home. A Tex-Mex specialty, fajitas, can be chicken or beef or both and are usually served still sizzling and smoking. Throw that delicious meat in a flour or corn tortilla and cover it in all the fixings mentioned above and you’ll have one of the best meals ever created in the palm of your hand.

I’m a professional photographer residing in Dallas, Texas. I currently shoot a wide variety of subjects including architecture, product, and portrait photography. My fine art portfolio is made up of street portraiture, vintage imagery, and urban and rural decay.

Dim sum, the Chinese feast of dumplings and other delectables, just wouldn’t be right without har gow. Nearly every holiday spent with my Cantonese family inevitably means a trip to dim sum and ordering a dozen bamboo dishes of food, including these shrimp dumplings. We have called Cupertino, California, home for many years, and the har gow here tastes as good as (if not better than) the offerings in China. Besides the taste, my favorite part is seeing the sinful jewels of fat glistening on the har gow’s pleated wrapper. No doubt loaded with cholesterol and bad carbs, this is, however, absolutely worth it.

With so many delightful foodie gems in the Bay Area, and no shortage of variety, it’s hard to pick a favorite. But I love this particular meal not only because it makes my tummy rumble, but because it’s a unique variation on the classic hamburger: ground lamb, smoked gouda, braised cherries, bacon, and wilted arugula. Kudos to Matt Levin, owner of The Refuge in San Carlos, California, for providing this work of delicious art.

Lunchbox Labs in Seattle is just a little place, so small in size that you could walk right by it and never know it was there … almost. But you might wonder why so many people were waiting in line in front of a tiny burger joint that looked like it could be blown away by a stiff breeze. If you waited in that line, placed an order, and took a big bite of the Burger of the Gods, you’d discover what you’d been missing.

Cairo offers minimal color and maximal dirt. The city’s juice stands, however, take advantage of fruit grown in the most fertile farmland in the world: the Nile Valley. The concoction shown here is a delicious reminder of the principles of density we all learned in eighth grade science. Tightly packed mango, strawberry and guava juices hold in chunks of banana and strawberry. At less than $0.50 apiece, this affordable treat seems like it could make eating fruit enticing enough even for American kids.

Seattle is coffee. Some cities have gas stations on every corner, we have coffee houses. Many are retail stores representing large corporations but a good number are still small neighborhood spots. Patrons visit, sip, and relax, often while surfing the web. The coffee itself inspires cult-like followings but the venues are important too, especially during Seattle’s long rainy winter. Some of the local establishments conduct poetry readings for nearby elementary school kids as adults prepare to slog through the commute into downtown.

Photographer: Lincoln Graham

Lincoln Graham recently returned to Seattle from a bout of “endless peace and tranquility” in Montana and is regularly found being walked to the neighborhood coffee house by his Irish Wolfhound.

One thing our friends always want to do when visiting us in San Francisco is to eat clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. This local delicacy can be found in little shacks near pier 39, at restaurants that serve only soups, and at one of San Francisco’s best known purveyors of sourdough bread, Boudin. Visitors can even take home fresh loaves of bread and canned clam chowder to re-create the experience at home.

What is it that makes a hometown what it is? To me it’s comfort and familiarity. When you ask what food represents my hometown in Texas I think of my Grandma’s potato soup and cornbread. Sure, it’s not a fancy restaurant dish or a commercial product but it is what brings us all together. This recipe came out of her Southern roots and Depression era mindset, and she’s shared this quintessential comfort food with family, friends, neighbors, and more people than I even know.

No dish is more tempting than varenyky: potato-filled dumplings smothered with butter, fried, and then garnished with sauteed onions — and always served with sour cream! It’s the most traditional and the most delicious Ukrainian food. This picture is from Christmas (celebrated by the old calendar in January). My favorite varenyky are the ones homemade by my grandmother with lots of love. These meals remind me of my very best childhood memories in Sokal, a small town in the Western part of Ukraine, where I grew up.

Photographer: Maryana Hordeychuk

The meal I miss the most when away from Great Britain is the full English breakfast. When I travel I am often working really hard and a coffee and pastry just won’t cut it. But the problem is that a few obstacles get in the way of a good English breakfast abroad: finding the right kind of traditional Heinz baked beans, thick bacon, and good sausages. But this one — from the now defunct Opposition Cafe in Brighton, England — was just right. (Though I did get some strange looks for standing on my chair to get this shot.)

“Pass me ta bowl of potatoes, will ya?” my host mother asked me while I watched her cook. Ireland is not my permanent residence, but I called it home for a summer. Complete with a host family and internship, I spent several months dining and drinking in the capital city, Dublin. My host mother would make dinner for her husband, two kids, and three exchange students every afternoon. Sometimes I would watch her prepare a meal if I got home early from my internship. She would hand mash all the potatoes and laughed when I told her I made mine from a box. The meal almost always included a potato, a slice of meat, and several vegetables. This is true Dublin cooking: not from a “traditional” restaurant, but an authentic Irish family.

Most Moroccans eat couscous every Friday. We’re not Moroccan, but we live here, and so we eat couscous every Friday with our hilarious neighbors who are hell-bent on fattening us up. This is no two minute couscous in a box: it’s hand-rolled, twice steamed, and simply puts all other couscous to shame. Yet another reason to wish it were Friday already.

The “garbage plate” is a mess of greatness from a little shop called “Nick Tahou Hots” in Rochester, New York. This delicacy consists of macaroni salad, baked beans, a beef patty, home fries, and Nick’s secret sauce. You may think it sounds gross but your taste buds are missing out till you throw your face at this. Oh, and the more ketchup you use, the better!

Plov (Uzbekistan’s version of pilaf) at its most basic is very simple — oil, onions, carrots, meat, and rice — but it’s enough to take me back to my homeland where it’s a national staple. Of course, this version, flavored with cumin, zereshk, pepper, and a whole head of steamed garlic, is my favorite. Add the Uzbek flatbread baked in a tandoori-style oven, and you’ve got a meal fit for kings!

Each year the residents of my adopted home of Necochea, Argentina, put on an enormous asado (Argentine barbecue) in the city’s main square to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the city. Chorizo sausages, huge slabs of beef and cross-cut ribs, and whole pigs are splayed out on large iron crosses. They’re left to cook for hours by a wood fire under the watchful eye of the asadores (barbecue pit masters). The meaty smokiness of the asado permeates your hair, your clothes, everything — but just one bite of that grass-fed Argentine beef makes it all worthwhile.

Boiled peanuts are a common snack across the South. In my neighborhood in Mississippi, we get together to boil and eat green peanuts every year in October. We turn it into a peanut block party, and alway serve “regular” and “cajun” (made with crawfish boil ingredients). Then we freeze the leftovers to eat at football games for the rest of the season.

Photographer: Mark Pinkerton

I am a mid-level manager with a financial services company and live in Madison, Mississippi. I eat my peanuts with fans of Mississippi State University and the University of Alabama.

There’s something special about the key lime pie from Joe’s Stone Crab. It might be the creamy tart filling, the cold whipped cream, or the buttery crumbly crust. Having grown up on Miami Beach, I can tell you without a doubt: this is one of the best key lime pies you’ll ever taste. (And with a little sleuthing on the web, you can find the recipe and give it a try for yourself!)

I’m a paid graphic designer, unpaid photographer. Living in Los Angeles and traveling as often as I can, I recently decided to pick up my camera and start using it. Whether I’m using my Canon Powershot SX110is or my iPhone, I always have something on hand.

We found these giant meringues at the top of a ski hill near Oslo, Norway. Sure, meringues are originally a Swiss food, but they must be a local favorite in Oslo. This pistachio flavored one was delicious with some hot tea.

Three things you should know about Portland, Oregon. First, there’s no better way to begin your day than to sink your teeth into a maple syrup bar topped with strips of fried bacon from Voodoo Donuts. Second, you should then wash it down with coffee from Stumptown Roasters. Third, only tourists and Californians use umbrellas.